Ahoi!

Big bro' is off to canoeing with his fancy apple-green dry-bag, while lil' bro' stays behind being silly... :-)

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

James River Canoeing

Noah is starting the school year with a 5-day canoe trip down the James River. His dry bag is packed. I didn't want to hand over my digital camera for a trip down the river, so I bought him a disposable one & depending on how that camera fares, maybe pictures will be available in a week or so. You can read the full press release at Hills & Heights. They will be camping at Historic Hopewell, Westover Plantation, & Fort Pocahontas along the way & living on hard-boiled eggs & bagels, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and "cooked o'er the campfire" meat & stew. One of the plantations guarantees ghosts! ;-) - What an awesome trip!

Kahu & The Fairies

Our second story this week was (an adapted by me) version of the story of Kahu & The Fairies. I bought a wonderful book in this lil' bookstore in Christchurch. It's "Maori Myths & Legendary Tales" by A.W. Reed. Wonderful, wonderful stories!

How The Kiwi Lost Its Wings

(Please e-mail me at chocolatelilies [at] gmail [dot] com if you would like to have a copy of my version of the story. I'm having technical difficulties with uploading to blogger.)
I started the 2nd grade school year with a Native Legends/Form Drawing block. For this first week I chose some Maori stories. I had sent my students a postcard with a kiwi on it when I visited New Zealand, so on the first day I told them an (adapted by me) version of the story "How The Kiwi Lost Its Wings." Here are two random pictures & a book entry from students in my class.

WIP Wednesday

WIP - "Works In Progress" is a pretty general term. I'm going to jump on the "WIP Wednesday" blogging wagon. Seems like a nice idea. Here's what I've been working on.

These are the squares for a version of the Barn-Raising Quilt. 8 squares so far. I really like the rainbow effect of the squares. I can't wait to see all 36 of them together. They are still unblocked.

We bought 25 pounds of peaches at a farm stand in South Carolina this past weekend. We've eaten lots of them. Yesterday I made some baked peaches with fresh whip cream as a dessert for Nathan's birthday. Today we made jam. Why WIP? - Well, I haven't cleaned the kitchen yet!

Oneone

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since this blog post & that Nathan is eleven years old today, but it is so. He's never liked school much. It's a bit unfortunate that his birthday is also the first day of school this year, but we spent a lovely weekend in Myrtle Beach with family, so we celebrated ahead of time, which is unusual for us.

The cake was very healthy as you can see - one of those gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, soy-free kind of "treats." :-) Just kidding. Of course we had ice-cream with it, too. Happy Birthday, Nathan! You know you are my favorite child. ;-) (I must explain this one: Both of my children always complain that I favor the other, so I make it a point to tell both of them in front of the respective sibling that they are my favorite child, which usually makes them smile as they realize how silly what they say is.)

Nathan loves to draw, so I gave him a set of 36 watercolor pencils, which he loved. Thing is he thinks they are too precious to use. :-) He also ended up with some $$$ which I suspect he will spend on Legos. Artist & engineer is what comes to mind when I think about him, but the other day, after tasting some coffee he said, "Mhmmm. I like it. I like donuts, too. I should probably become a police-officer." It will be interesting to see what profession he will choose one day...

Summer Break Ending

We kept summer break alive to the very last minute it seems, spending Labor Day Weekend with family at Myrtle Beach - courtesy of Mom & Dad. (Thank you so much folks!!!) A (yummy) early birthday cake (& ice-cream, of course) for youngest child - who will be eleven on the first day of school, skull & crossbones boogie boards for the boys, Long Island Iced Teas by the beach for moi. I am so grateful to the universe for all the travels this summer. It was quite a treat. I feel so blessed. We will spend the next weeks immersed in the daily routine of school-life. Next highlight on the calendar - November 28th.

Reflecting On Reflection...

... sounds like a catchy subject line.

I have been feeling extremely needy these past few days. The bummer is that there's nobody around to accommodate by neediness, nobody available to talk to. I spend most evenings by myself and sometimes I just get tired of being with myself. While I enjoy knitting & reading, sometimes these two activities start to annoy me. It's not that I'm trying to avoid self-reflection or quiet. It's not that I need to be entertained. It's just that I think there comes a point when I've been with myself for so long that I need to socialize.

I realize that this implies that happiness can somehow come from without, when it really needs to arise from within. It seems unfair that nobody is available during my time of feeling "needy." If I were enlightened I would say that I'm grateful that having to be alone with myself in the situation is sparking some inner work that is necessary on my path to human becoming (or something along those philosophical lines). --- However, I'm far from being enlightened, so I'm just annoyed that I'm spending yet another evening alone, without conversation.

I better go and talk to myself.

Forget-Me-Not

Taking a break from knitting to blog about knitting. Hmmm. Working the pattern in the round for the sleeves is requiring me to think a bit, and it's just too late at night for thinking!

More O~Wool. The color is "Robin's Egg." It's the 2-ply - 100% organic Merino. It has a nice soft hue that reminds me of Forget-Me-Nots & gives me vacation memories of clear skies & blue seas (which I also do not want to forget).

More lace. I'm using the Lucille pattern. I liked the lil' sweater & the pattern worked like magic for me - until I got to the sleeves.

Picture Paua shell buttons on it & it's even sweeter (I think). Thing is I couldn't find the ones I bought in New Zealand, so I looked online. Then I found them (in my knitting basket of all places) & after moving some furniture & organizing things, they are lost again. - I'm making a mental note that organizing is never a good idea. So, this sweater won't be in the mail to my friends lil' daughter 'til I either get some more or find another cute lil' button alternative... and not until the sleeves are done, obviously.

I sure hope that baby is slow growing. It's taking me longer than I thought. :-) Now off to bed before midnight for a change.